


The Captain of the Chargers

by AmadeaSwan



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25077340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmadeaSwan/pseuds/AmadeaSwan
Summary: My retelling of the Inquisitor's first meeting with Bull and his Chargers. Nothing too special/exciting with this one, just warming up my writing muscles and getting used to writing my Lavellan. Stay tuned for more of these two! I plan on writing more of my headcanon versions of various events from the game and possibly some other scenes in between. As always feel free to leave feedback/critique in the comments!
Relationships: Female Inquisitor/Iron Bull, Inquisitor/Iron Bull, Iron Bull & Female Lavellan
Kudos: 8





	The Captain of the Chargers

“…and I think if we send a small contingent of our people to help, it would do much for relations with the local lord.”

“Yes, I agree with Josephine. Of course I will also position one of my scouts in the area to observe things from a distance. We want to make sure we have someone who can report back if something happens to the main group.”

Leliana and Josephine looked to the sandy-haired commander across the table.

“I think you ladies have the matter in hand. Unless the Herald has anything to add?”

Ellara winced slightly at the sound of the title. “Cullen, please. None of this ‘Herald’ nonsense.”

“Of course, my apologies… Lady Lavellan.”

The Dalish huntress sighed. That title didn’t apply to her either, but it was a step down at least. “I think you have a solid plan.” she looked up at the spymaster and ambassador. “I’ll leave you two to set things in motion. I need some fresh air.” Ellara excused herself and left the war room for the main hall of the chantry, closing the door behind her before anyone could object. She gave a curt nod to Mother Giselle and headed towards the double doors that led out to the rest of Haven. She could feel a restlessness building inside her, fueled by a controlled panic she’d been dealing with ever since the events of the Conclave. She debated whether to find Varric and vent to him about it. He seemed to be the only person in the place who realized just how insane all of this was. It was either that or run off into the woods for a few hours, and Cassandra had nearly sent all of Haven as a search party the last time. Ellara was seriously considering the latter option as she pulled one of the heavy wooden doors open. The crisp alpine air swept her hair back and she had taken a step toward the nearest row of fir trees when a voice interrupted.

“Excuse me,” a young human man stood just outside the door, as if he’d been waiting for someone. “I’ve got a message for the Inquisition, but I’m having a hard time getting anyone to talk to me.” He was dressed for combat, with a mail shirt over his tunic and metal breastplate, pauldrons, gauntlets, and greaves.

“Who are you?”

“Cremisius Aclassi, with the Bull’s Chargers mercenary company. We mostly work out of Orlais and Nevarra. We’ve got word of some Tevinter mercenaries gathering out on the Storm Coast. My company commander, Iron Bull, offers the information free of charge. If you’d like to see what the Bull’s Chargers can do for the Inquisition, meet us there and watch us work.”

Ellara glanced around for someone to hand him off to, found no one, and gestured for him to follow with a resigned sigh. They sat next to the nearby campfire and she reached over to shake hands. “Ellara Lavellan, nice to meet you.”

The young man’s brow furrowed. “Lavellan? You’re… oh shit!” Cremisius froze and then stuttered an apology. “Forgive me, I didn’t realize, you-- you’re the Herald!”

Ellara laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I prefer cursing to dropping to your knees in worship. I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime, Ser…?”

He responded with a nervous laugh of his own. “Cremisius Aclassi, but I’m no knight. Please, just call me Krem… er…”

“Ellara will do just fine, Krem.”

“Ellara, um, right then…”

The elf took up the reins of the conversation. “So! Mercenaries! The Chargers, you said? Your commander, ‘Iron Bull’. That’s quite an unusual name.”

Krem seemed to relax a bit more. “He’s one of those Qunari. He leads from the front, he pays well, and he’s a lot smarter than the last bastard I worked for. Best of all, he’s professional. We accept contracts with whoever makes the first real offer. You’re the first time he’s gone out of his way to pick a side.”

Ellara perked up a bit, leaning forward. She’d never met a Qunari before. All the stories she’d heard made them sound more like monsters than men. The thought of one leading a company of mercenaries, wanting to work for the Inquisition, that was interesting to say the least. “Why did your commander send us this information? Why does he want to help the Inquisition?”

Krem shrugged. “He thinks you’re doing good work. And that goes for the rest of our company, too. Anyone trying to fix that?” The merc pointed at the Breach, glowing menacingly in the sky. “That’s the side we need to be on right now.”

Ellara nodded. “Right then, we’ll consider your offer.” She stood and Krem followed, reaching out for another hand shake. “When should we be at the Storm Coast?”

Krem smiled. “In seven days, at dawn.”

\---

Ellara awoke gasping for breath, soaked in a cold sweat, her left hand gripping an invisible bow. She sat up and frantically looked around the small canvas tent as reality slowly took shape. Realizing it had been a dream, she groaned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Fenedhis…” The nightmares had plagued her since the Conclave. Usually involving demons or explosions or a combination of the two. And she never seemed to have enough arrows. The archer crawled up to the tent flap and peeked outside. She could hear the rain pattering on the oilcloth so that didn’t come as a surprise. She glanced at the horizon and found what she was looking for; the barest hint of gray light. Good, that meant they had a couple more hours. She slipped into her moccasins and began securing the laces. Cassandra stirred on the bedroll next to her and Ellara worked a little faster. Shoes on, she quickly fastened a leather cloak around her neck and left the tent. She had no interest in being interrogated about the status of the glowing green mark on her hand first thing in the morning.

Solas was the only other person awake in camp. He knelt by the fire, prodding the embers to life with a stick and (Ellara suspected) a little magic. She wandered over, pulling her hood up against the rain. The mage stood once the flames were crackling. “Aneth ara. I hope you slept well.”

Ellara returned the familiar greeting with a smile. “Aneth ara. I slept about as well as anyone can with these damned storms. And you?”

Solas looked down into the flames. “Well, I’m not the one with a magical conduit embedded in their hand. …I assume it troubles you?”

Ellara sighed. Maybe she would’ve been better off with Cassandra after all. “It does, sometimes. But I can’t tell what comes from the mark and what comes from… my own head…”

Solas nodded. “You’ve been through a lot, even excluding your involvement with the Breach.” He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for a moment, then busied himself at the fire once again. “I’ll make some tea. That always helps me to clear my head.”

“Ma serannas.” Ellara was relieved to drop the subject.

Solas had just handed Ellara a steaming mug when Cassandra emerged from her tent. She was already fully dressed and battle-ready, her sword secured in it’s scabbard on her hip. She scanned the campsite and immediately locked onto her target, wasting no time in striding over to the two elves.

“Good morning Herald, Solas,” they returned her curt nod. She focused on Ellara. “Are you well? Has anything changed?” The taller woman looked down at the elf’s left hand.

Ellara withdrew her hand into her cloak and took a sip of her tea, pointedly looking away into the fire. “I’m fine, thank you. No different than yesterday.”

Cassandra seemed to relax somewhat. “That’s good to hear. I don’t mean to bother you so, but it’s important that we document the effects of this… phenomenon. Any information could be--”

“Maker, can’t you let the poor girl finish her tea first?” Varric joined the group around the fire. “You don’t have to be all business all the time, Seeker.”

Cassandra’s mouth twitched as she struggled to contain a grimace. “I am simply doing my job. Some of us don’t have the luxury of not caring.”

Varric laughed. “That’s not true and you know it! You could be just as carefree as I am if you’d let your hair down every now and then.”

While Cassandra huffed and fired back another retort, Ellara quietly backed out of the semi-circle they had formed around the fire. As she sneaked back toward the safety of her tent, she lifted her mug in a silent toast of thanks. Varric gave a slight nod in response.

An hour later the party had eaten, dressed, and otherwise prepared for the trek ahead. Leaving Scout Harding and a few other Inquisition soldiers behind to guard the camp, they set out into the rocky evergreen forest. The rain continued with no signs of stopping, which suited them just fine. The sound of rainfall would mask any sound they made moving through the undergrowth. The weather helped to hide their scent as well; they startled a group of deer taking shelter under a fallen tree, but the hike was otherwise uneventful. The group emerged onto a rocky slope just as the first rays of sunlight broke through a rare hole in the clouds. The turbulent waters of the Waking Sea were before them, breaking on the pebbled shore one hundred yards away.

“They should be here somewhere,” Ellara pulled her hood back to get a better view of the surroundings. “This way.” She led the others up a narrow path set into a nearby cliff face. It soon opened up at the top of a ledge overlooking a large portion of the beach. Their tents were visible in the distance, on a hill to the north, but the more interesting sight was just below them.

A skirmish was already playing out before them. In fact, it appeared to have begun only moments ago. The fighting had broken out in the midst of a camp at the base of the ledge, above the high tide line. There were still men emerging from the tents, in various states of dress and undress. Ellara quickly determined these to be the Tevinter mercenaries. The attackers appeared to have surprised the defenders while most of them were still asleep, and were making short work of it.

Cassandra drew her sword, but Ellara held up a hand to stop her. “No, not yet. We’re here to watch them work.” The elf readied her bow as she spoke, nocking an arrow. “We’ll step in if things start to turn sour.” She nodded at Solas, who began readying a defensive spell, then returned her attention to the action below.

She picked out six figures that were part of the offensive. One was clearly a dwarf, the others human or elven. A pillar of ice suddenly burst from the ground, throwing three Tevinter mercs into the air. Right, so at least one mage, then. The two human figures were warriors. One was antagonizing a pair of opponents, making sure to lure them away from the mage. The other was methodically cutting down the unlucky men who were still scrambling for their weapons. The remaining elf and dwarf stayed on the edges of the fight, darting in now and then to flank distracted enemies with their daggers. Through all of this, cutting a wide path with the immense battleaxe in his hands, a horned giant bellowed orders for his men and insults for his enemies. Ellara watched with a mixture of disgust and respect as he cleaved a man nearly in half. In the extra moment it took the qunari to wrench his axe free from the dead man’s torso, a Tevinter rogue let out a terrified yell and charged, brandishing a dagger.

Ellara drew her bow and let loose an arrow in the space of a heartbeat. The qunari turned just in time to see the would-be assassin drop to the ground, a fletched shaft embedded in the remains of his right eye. He looked up at the party on the ledge and waved in greeting, then beckoned them to come down. Seeing that the last of the enemies had been dispensed with, Ellara led the group down to meet the victors.

The hulking captain stood leaning on the haft of his weapon and wiping blood from his face as they approached. Looking around the scene, he called out, “Krem!” the young man Ellara had met at Haven appeared, stepping over bodies. “How’d we do?”

“Five wounded, chief. Nothing Stitches can’t fix up though.” Krem winced as he spoke, applying pressure to a still-bleeding laceration on his arm.

“That’s what I like to hear!” the qunari tossed a clean linen cloth to him, then turned to address Ellara. She noticed for the first time the patch where his left eye should have been. “So, you’re with the Inquisition, huh? Glad you could make it.” He smiled and shook hands with the Herald.

Her neck craned back to look him in the eye, Ellara responded, “Iron Bull, I presume?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, the horns usually give it away. I assume you remember Cremisius Aclassi, my lieutenant.”

Krem nodded in greeting. “Good to see you again.” He turned back to Bull and pointed to the mage Ellara had noticed during the fight, a female elf giving a hand signal from across the camp. “Dalish says throat cutting is done, chief.”

“Already? Have ‘em check again. I don’t want any of those Tevinter bastards getting away. No offense, Krem.”

“None taken. At least a bastard knows who his mother is. Puts him one up on you Qunari, right?”

Bull rolled his eye with a smirk, then called after the soldier. “Hey, get those casks back to camp! We need drink for our guests!” He hefted his ax onto his shoulder and gestured for Ellara to follow him. “Come on, we’ll talk business once we have ale in our hands.”

Iron Bull led them along the beach and Ellara followed a few steps behind, taking the opportunity to stare more openly. So they really did have horns growing right out of their heads! She had assumed that detail referred to some kind of headpiece or decorative helm. And she had expected him to be tall, but it was still a bit unnerving actually standing next to him. It wasn’t just his height; everything about him was just so… big. His shoulders were as wide as her arm was long, and his horns extended out to either side to match. She had just begun to look more closely at the tattoos on his arms when Cassandra cleared her throat pointedly.

Ellara nearly stumbled over a pile of seaweed. She had almost forgotten the other three were there. “Oh, um, let me introduce you to my companions! Cassandra, Solas, and Varric,” she gestured to each of them in turn.

The captain looked over his shoulder. “They look like a tough crew! Well, maybe not Solas there, but I assume that’s not just a walking stick he’s holding.” He nodded at Varric. “Love the crossbow! Shame you didn’t get to use it!”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of chances to see her in action!” Varric responded.

“Well, that all depends on the one who’s in charge,” Bull smiled at Ellara before facing forward again. This time she almost tripped on some driftwood.

They arrived at the Chargers’ camp about ten minutes later. It was nestled away in a clearing just east of the shore. The rest of the chargers followed soon after with the promised casks of ale and it was dispensed liberally. Cassandra, Solas, and Varric conversed with the mercenaries while Bull led Ellara to sit on a large driftwood log at the edge of the clearing facing the water. He had removed his bloodstained leather pauldron and greaves and was wiping the last of the blood from his bare chest.

“So, you’ve seen us fight. We’re expensive, but we’re worth it. And I’m sure the Inquisition can afford us.”

Ellara leaned forward, arms resting on her legs and hands clasped together to stop herself from fidgeting. “Exactly how much are you going to cost me?”

“It wouldn’t cost you anything personally. Unless you wanna buy drinks later.” He stood, took a few steps onto the sand, and began stretching his overused muscles. The elf caught herself staring at the scars that striped the gray skin of his back. “Your ambassador, what’s her name, Josephine? We’d go through her and get the payments set up. Don’t worry about that.” He placed his hands on the small of his back and leaned backwards, letting out a satisfied grunt at the sound of cracking vertebrae. “All that matters is we’re worth it.”

Ellara quickly averted her gaze when the captain turned around to return to his place beside her, trying to act like she’d been studying a patch of spindleweed all along. “Well, the Chargers do seem like an excellent company.”

Bull drained the tankard Krem had brought him in two gulps. “They are. But you’re not just getting the Chargers as a whole. You’re getting me. You need a front line bodyguard, I’m your man. Whatever it is, demons, dragons? The bigger the better.”

Ellara nodded slowly. “Cassandra could use some backup… Don’t tell her I said that, though.”

A low laugh rumbled through the qunari. “Don’t worry about that. I can already tell she’s a woman you don’t want to piss off.” Iron Bull’s face became more serious. “And there’s one other thing. Might be useful, might piss you off. Ever heard of the Ben-Hassrath?”

Ellara shook her head.

“It’s a Qunari order. They handle information, loyalty, security, all of it. Spies, basically. …We’re spies. The Ben-Hassrath are concerned about the Breach. Magic out of control like that could cause trouble everywhere. I’ve been ordered to join the Inquisition, get close to the people in charge, and send reports on what’s happening. But I also get reports from Ben-Hassrath agents all over Orlais. You sign me on, I’ll share them with your people.”

The elf was at a loss for words for a moment. “You… you’re a Qunari spy and you just… told me?”

Bull continued in a conversational tone. “Whatever happened at that Conclave thing, it’s bad. Someone needs to get that Breach closed. So whatever I am, I’m on your side.”

“…You still could’ve kept that particular detail a secret.”

“From something called the ‘Inquisition’?” he snorted. “I’d have been tipped sooner or later. Better you hear it right up front from me.”

Ellara ran a hand through her hair and sighed. This was much more complicated than she had expected. “So, what would you send home in these reports of yours?”

“Enough to keep my superiors happy. Nothing that’ll compromise your operations. The Qunari want to know if they need to launch an invasion to stop the whole damn world from falling apart. You let me send word of what you’re doing, it’ll put some minds at ease. That’s good for everyone.”

“Would I get to see these reports before they’re sent?”

“Sure, have your professionals take a look too if you want.”

Ellara took a drink of ale. “What’s in these Ben-Hassrath reports you’re offering to share?”

“Enemy movements, suspicious activity, intriguing gossip. It’s a bit of everything. Alone, they’re not much. But if your spymaster is worth a damn, she’ll put them to good use.”

The Herald blinked in surprise. “’She’?”

Bull grinned. “I did a little research. Plus, I’ve always had a weakness for redheads.”

He didn’t place any particular emphasis on the phrase, didn’t alter his expression, but the statement still took Ellara by surprise. She reflexively reached up to tuck an auburn strand behind her ear, then immediately lowered it self-consciously and began fiddling with a loose tassel on the scabbard of her dagger. “A-alright, you’re in,” she managed, using every ounce of her willpower not to look away in embarrassment.

“Excellent!” he stood and extended a hand, pulling her up into a firm handshake and grasping her shoulder. “Now, let’s celebrate our partnership properly!” They walked back into camp. “Hey, Krem!” the lieutenant looked up from a freshly tapped cask. “The Chargers have a new contract! Let’s get our friends here another round!” Ellara tried to make an excuse, having barely started on her first tankard, but Bull just laughed and pressed another into her other hand. “Relax! We’ve got some time. Send one of your people with the news and kick back with us for a while. I just met you and I can already tell you need it. Besides, if you really want to get to know Bull’s Chargers, we’re going to have to get at least three casks in.”

Ellara gave in with a smile and took a long draft, finishing off the first tankard to whoops and yells from the mercs.


End file.
